The news: Modern CMOs have a complicated relationship with data, according to a study from data and analytics platform Adverity.

• 300 CMOs from small and midsize businesses in the US, UK, and the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) took part in the survey.

Behind the numbers:

• CMOs are divided on whether the expanding sophistication and volume of data supports or hampers innovation, with 41% saying it helps and 17% undecided.
• 42% of CMOs say data is stifling creativity within marketing teams.
• More than four in 10 CMOs (43%) believe the biggest hurdle to generating value from their marketing data is business culture.

The need for a dedicated marketing operations function to manage technologies has skyrocketed. Seventy-three percent of CMOs support this idea, and 45% have such a role right now; the other 28% are looking to hire. Just 12% of CMOs have had such a resource for over a year.

People problems: According to two in three CMOs, hiring new data-savvy personnel is more difficult than upskilling current workers.

• Retention is getting increasingly tough, according to 36% of marketers.
• Half of respondents (49%) believe that the quantity of needed manual reporting deters employees from joining their marketing team.

Gaining insights: The absence of data management tools is cited by 18% of respondents as the primary reason for their inability to extract value from their data.

• Impediments identified to deriving good data insights include having the correct technology (38% of respondents) and having people with the relevant skill sets (19%).
• 43% of CMOs responded that their team spends more time compiling data than actually using it to drive decisions.